Hey, I may be headed down to the Bay Area, can you give me names of nurseries I should check out if I get the chance?
In what part of the Bay Area are you spending your time? There are so many great nurseries!
In Berkeley I really like the Dry Nursery on the North Oakland/South Berkeley border. I also really enjoy the East Bay nursery on San Pablo Avenue.
In the north bay a place called Harmony Nursery in Sebastopol was not far from my house.
And if you see in SF you should really check out Flora Grubb. Get ready for some serious plant envy. Haha
The trip would be to visit a bakery in San Francisco, but will have a car, coming from the South, and mostly an excuse to do something and get the daughter out of the house. Probably a short trip, hitting a few destinations, one or two nurseries could make the list of destinations.
I’m interested in fruit trees that can survive outside unprotected, and the names of the places you may have seen the Yuzu.
All those places should have good citrus selection. Harmony Nursery in Sebastopol is particularly in line with the things we talk about. But honestly Dry Nursery is to not be missed for amazing rare plants that thrive in our mild west coast climate. And Flora Grubb is a destination worth the trip.
Thanks, I’ve added them to our list. Those are all recommended for edible stuff, yes? That’s what I’m interested in.
All except the Dry Nursery. They specialize in ornamentals from all the dry regions of the world. They have an amazing collection, not focused on edibles. But, man, if you have any interest in cactus, succulents or unusual trees, that’s the place. I had many lazy sunny afternoons wandering around that part of town. Nostalgia washes over me.
1 Like
I forgot to say I’ve got some yuzu seedlings if you’re interested.
Yes, I’m interested in a couple of yuzu seedlings.
Call Mike at Menlo Growers in Gilroy.
Thanks for the tip. I like their site.
I don’t know why I said I’d be coming from the South, it would be from the North.
It’s looking like this trip may not happen this spring. Hopefully I’ll find this thread again should it happen in the future.
If you do make it down to Harmony Farm Supply in Sebastapol sometime, you might want to check out Luther Burbank’s Gold Ridge Farm, where he did most of his experiments and breeding work. It’s a city park, so you can just walk around without a guide. I found it surprisingly modest considering the magnitude of the man’s work, but certainly worth a visit if you’re in the area.
1 Like
Kind of jarring to go out the exit into the parking lot of an apartment complex. Oh well, at least they didn’t raze the whole dang thing. BTW my brother is still in Bodega, so I look at your posts to help him decide what fruit to grow. I told him with the wind there he should just train everything as one tier espalier stepovers.
We are indeed pretty close. I think that Bodega may be a slightly warmer microclimate than my place, as I have a friend just outside the town there who’s successfully grown a number of citrus varieties that tend to get frost-damaged here. His orchard does have some wind protection that mine lacks.
1 Like
Also the Burbank Farm in downtown Santa Rosa. That was Burbank’s residence and he cultivated an amazing collection of plants there too. All around that part of Santa Rosa you can find tree cultivars he developed. There are some phenomenal cold hardy avocado and lemon trees heavy with fruit and tucked into alleys and behind buildings. There’s one behind a parking lot between 3rd and 4th.
Is he at the coast proper or in that charming hamlet a few miles east of the water? That makes all the difference in the world. In the summer the temp drops 20-30 degrees by going just a few miles down the road.
1 Like
I can send them if you want.
He’s away from the bay a bit, just enough to get less of the marine fog.